Bondi gunmen threw bombs that didn’t go off, condemned ‘Zionists’ before attack — police |
The father and son accused of killing 15 people in a terror attack targeting a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach last week trained with firearms leading up to the massacre, threw unexploded bombs at the scene and recorded a video beforehand condemning “Zionists.”
Those details emerged in a “statement of facts” released by a court in the Australian state of New South Wales on Monday. The statement lays out the timeline of the terrorists’ preparations leading up to the attack.
The court released the documents days after the gunman who survived the attack, Naveed Akram, 24, was transferred from a hospital to detention in a correctional facility. He also appeared in court via video from a Sydney hospital.
His father, Sajid, 50, was killed by police during the attack. Naveed Akram was charged with 15 counts of murder, in addition to terrorism and firearms charges, and faces life in prison if convicted.
The statement of facts contains screenshots from videos the pair recorded, including showing them firing long weapons in what appears to be a large grassy field, and describing their motivation for the December 14 massacre, the worst antisemitic attack against Diaspora Jews in decades.
According to local reports, the statement of facts says that the pair conducted “firearms training” in an area thought to be in New South Wales, outside of Sydney. Police said the suspects “meticulously planned” the attack for months.
“The accused and his father are seen throughout the video firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner,” the statement said.
Before the attack, they also recorded what appears to........